Automatic to manual Guide

[Glease]

I know / i have read the reviews on someone that has done an automatic to 5 speed conversion, but i am going to attempt this myself and i need to know exactly what to buy and if anyone at all could give me some in depth guidance. Also, can i get it done without an engine lift of any sort? thanks alot. any help will be golden, thanks!

[Deathshead]

OK, lets see, no engine lift? who needs a stinkin engine lift??? ha!

engine and trans bolted together comes in from underneath, sure i had my car on the lift at work and brought the car down to the engien but cant see how you couldnt do it the other way around.

OK.. Auto to 5-speed, this is how i did it and heres what u need.

Trans... make sure you get a 5-speed they look the same!

I got my transmission from a 92, pulled the trans with crossmember still on, somone else grabbed 1 axle, had to pull an axle off a 89 acorss the yard, no biggy..

Shifter, linkage with stabilizer bar. up until now this is the easy stuff, trans and shifter can be out in like 15 minutes.

Before you go to a junkyard do youself a favor, go to home depot, buy a ryobi 18volt sawzall!! they are cheap and work awsome, and if you have the means a snap-on cordless impact gun is like having god with you too..

OK, so we have trans,crossmember (when i pulled my automatic and put it next to the 5-speed the crossmember looked IDENTICAL,, but why not just get the right crossmember right?

Trans
crossmember (this will have your mounts on already, CHANGE THEM!)
Left side mount is the same for auto or manual.
axles
shifter+linkage
emngine seperation plate.
flywheel
starter

PEDALS!!!.. have fun!, especially if you are fat like me!, hah to get mine pedal cluster out we first unbolted the steering columm, then the bolt at the steering joint, then got the sawzall in there to make some room, this is the hardest part of the whole swap, becuase its painfull to do..to get so far under the dash, cutting up your hands getting to those stupid nuts.


Lets see,.. did i miss anything? I still had the automatic console in my car.. the automatic shifter didnt want to leave, nothing a "bfh" wouldnt fix.
I used a "ractive" brand shift boot with chrome surround, works great with the auto console.. good time to pop in that $.99 cent ebay honda civic short shifter!

one thing you have to do when you pull the auto shifter, there is a cable under the carpet, from the shifter to the ignition key.. this is so you dont start the car in drive.. easiest way to fix this. is to take a pair of big wire cutters and crimp the cable at the end, and twist it over so its locked in all the time... all fixed.


Now for trans wiring, on my car, i didnt use the clutch switch, under the hood i just jumped the wires together, I think of it this way, alot of old cars never had a clutch switch. how far could you possibly go to run somone over by starting the car in gear?

or, think of it this way, say the engine dies in rushhour traffic, do you want to get out and look like an idiot trying to push the car out of the way?
just put the car in gear and turn the key, you could get pretty far if you had too..

Reverse lights, 2 green wires that you snipped off with the 5-speed trans, are right where the 2 green wires that came from the auto off the harness, just splice them together all is well.

Auto trans radiator with cooler lines? get your big wire cutters again, snip the hard lines off and crimp over the ends, or you could use somthing to plug them up with.

and thats about it, i hope i didnt ramble too much, trying cover all bases...

any questions? reply away!
Thanks!

[Glease]

oh thanks so much, i am going to get started very soon. as for the left engine mount, is it sitting in the car left, or staring at the car from the from left? lol. thanks so much again for your time.

[ejp2fast]

what about the clutch plate attached to the flywheel? don't you need that as well from the manual as the auto doesn't have that? maybe i am nuts, but i thought you need that.

[ejp2fast]

by the way i found a 5spd at a JY and hopefully i'll be doing this soon! can't wait

[Gomez]

i just got mine runnin last week ;-)

[dahodges]

If you want to keep your car usable during the week. Spend one weekend just doing the pedal switch.
If you are just doing the swap. No other work. You should be able to swap the trans. itself in one weekend. If you have everything.

David

[ejp2fast]

If you want to keep your car usable during the week. Spend one weekend just doing the pedal switch.
If you are just doing the swap. No other work. You should be able to swap the trans. itself in one weekend. If you have everything.

David

As I haven't done this swap yet, please elaborate on this pedal switch.

[Damkid]

As I haven't done this swap yet, please elaborate on this pedal switch.

the brake pedal for an automatic is wider than one from a standard due to having the clutch pedal

if i remember right, after disconnecting the clutch cable from the pedal and removing the brake lever from the brake pedal, i beleive it's only 1 long bolt that holds the pedals in place

[dahodges]

The Brake pedal assy. Is bolted on to the firewall with the same bolts that hold on the powerbrakes. There are other bolts I think. Just don't remember them. It may be easier to unbolt or even remove the steering column to give you working room. I would remove the seat also. So that you can lay down.

Of course, you will have to feed the clutch cable thru the fire wall. And just let it hang until the trans is put in. The cable is held to the pedal by way of a simple hook. I would/will tape the cable to the pedal using alot of masking tape. So that it does not come unhooked during assy.

The pedal assy is the hardest part. Good Luck. David

[ejp2fast]

what about the clutch plate attached to the flywheel? don't you need that as well from the manual as the auto doesn't have that? maybe i am nuts, but i thought you need that.

anybody have an answer to this?

[stefan]

anybody have an answer to this?

verry verry simple. Buy a clutch kit- it will include this..... because there is no way you are going to re-use the clutch fron the junkyard car, RIGHT?

[ejp2fast]

well, it only has 110K on it.....?? i thought I could get by with using it..

[dahodges]

If you get charged for a used clutch and pressure plate. Leave it. If it's free look it over. If the friction material is not close to the rivites, You can scuff up the clutch and plate. Make sure the scratches go against the rotation of the assy.

But for a $100 do you want to take a chance of having to pull the engine again?

David

[ejp2fast]

you guys have a good point...new clutch would be better.

also to note in the initial parts list: the crossmember that is mentioned that is the same thing as the engine/ trans support member that goes from front to back of the car under the engine/trans right?